Hot and Heavy

[Epicjester]

"I haaaaaaate this place so much." A childish voice whined as a young Sith Acolyte wandered down a crowded Mos Eisley street. Body hunched over as the unrelenting sun of the desert world beat down on his back. Sapping his strength with each step he took. At this current point in time. He hated his standing in the hierarchy of the Sith. Not at all enjoying the fact that he had been reduced to a simple courier. The only positive note to this situation was that he left his heavy robes behind him and was wearing simple civilian clothing. A light shirt and brown pants, his bag slung over his back with a few precious possessions inside.

Apparently the package was too important for a standard delivery. But at the same time not important enough to merit a heavier guard. Thankfully for the Sith. They always had disposable minions hopeful students on hand at all times to perform any mundane tasks they felt was below their concerns.

Luckily for Rhem. The delivery went off without any major problems. His current situation was because of a foolhardy mistake on his own part. He left his creditstick back on the shuttle that would not be arriving to pick him up for quite a few hours.

He was hot, tired and hungry. Not a good combination when you where stuck in unfamiliar territory. And Rhem had finally his his limit. Collapsing in the middle of the street, face down in the sand, he called out. "That's it. I give up." He mumbled into the ground. Receiving odd looks from the others present, yet none seemed to want to lend him a hand. "Jub Jub." He called out, as his faithful pet poked his head out of his master's bag to investigate the sudden shift in position. "When I die. You have permission to eat my body. Dont let any of them damn Jawas get at me. The little thieves will sell my organs in seconds." Nodding solemnly, the Gizka crawled out of Rhem's bag, sitting in front of his master. Waiting for his eventual death.

That is of course, if no one interfered.

 

[Shani Ka]

Shani found herself on Tatooine. She had been wondering the galaxy for many months now, going from planet to planet, discovering, reading, and in some occasions, talking to locals. However, her stop on Tatooine was not of that nature..Even a Jedi needed to repair their ship and refuel from time to time. Of course, Tatooine would not have been Shani's first choice. A hot, blistering temperature, sand storms, and pretty much most of the criminals in this galaxy. Really not a place she liked to be.

She walked out of her ship, slightly grumbling, not so much for being on Tatooine, but for the fact that she was unlikely to find anyone that sold anything pretty, clothes or otherwise. As she arranged the refueling and repair of her ship, as it was dented here and there, Shani walked out of Mos Eisley spaceport. The process would take at least a couple of hours, so Shani decided to go for a walk. It was hot, typical for Tatooine, but not what she was used to..Shani felt the heat on her body sting like a knife.

Given Tatooine's notoriety, Shani thought best to not get out with her lightsaber, wearing only her red crop top, black tight trousers and her boots, which hugged her foot as much as her trousers hugged her shape. She was also acutely aware that force users were heavily targeted, especially on this planet, and made a mental note not to use her Force senses if she could help it. Wondering around the city, occasionally stopping to see if any wares available at the several stalls would interested, she saw a peculiar scene. A young man, around her age or slightly less, with red hair, was lying on the street, and next to him, a Gizka, that was simply sitting there, waiting for something. Shani blinked, but shaking off her surprise, she got closer, to offer her help. She kept her force senses closed still, not wanting to draw attention.

"Hey! Hey, are you alright?"

She went down on one knee next to the stranger, shaking him gently to try and wake him up.

 

[Epicjester]

While his master was face down in the dirt. The pet gizka turned to face the new arrival that seemed to actually want to help his master. Quite unlike the rest of the crowd who seemed quite content to leave Rhem to his fate. But behavior like that was to be expected on a planet such as this. No one really cared about strangers on such a harsh desert world.

A loud grumble could be heard emanating from Rhem's stomach. Letting Shani know exactly what the issue was with the former slave. The poor teen was starving. Having foolishly not eaten in quite a while. Despite his surprising intelligence, Rhem was still quite the scatterbrian. He'd forget his own lightsaber had it not been literally beaten into him to keep it on him at all times.

"Food." He pitifully whined, raising his head slightly to look at whoever it was that was disturbing his slow demise. It seems he didnt quite have the strength to look beyond Shani's boots. But his eyes did rest on his faithful pet.

A faithful pet that his addled mind realised, could be cooked into a certain delicacy. "Jub Jub." He spoke slowly, his own pet turning around to face his master. "Remember all those times I fed you?" By now, Rhem was slowly licking his dried lips as Jub Jub began to back away slowly, sensing the dark thoughts inside his master's mind.

"How about you pay me back a little? I promise only to take a leg or an arm." By now Jub Jub was visibly shaking, hoping backwards to hide behind Shani's boots as Rhem attempted to summon the strength to crawl over to the gizka.

"Could you do me a little favour and just kick him over to me?" He called up to Shani. Hoping that the Padawan would be kind enough to heed his request to eat his oldest friend.

 

[Shani Ka]

Shani heard the young man's grumbled and chuckled at the ensuing scene. Of course, she hoped that he really didn't want to eat his pet... She watched the little thing hide behind her boots, and felt a whole lot of pity for it.

"Aww, don't eat him! He's so cute!" She twists so that her boots reveal the shaking Gizka, and she tries to pet him to comfort him. "And no I won't kick him. But I can buy you some food, so you DON'T eat your pet?" Shani looked back at the young man laying on the floor, smiling at him still, even if his head didn't really look up.

Shani was still trying to determine what he was, without using her force sense, a very dangerous thing to do on Tatooine. And even this young man could potentially be dangerous. But Shani kept her demeanour friendly and warm for the moment, perhaps he would reveal himself later. He didn't seem to be too hostile, which was good.

"Now come on, let's get you up hey?" She reaches over to his arm, ready to help him get up.

 

[Epicjester]

"Cute? Rhem asked out loud, finally finding the strength to look up at the woman who, if his ears served him right, was willing to pay for his meal. His eyes flicked from his pet who was now making a series of cooing sounds from being petted to the young woman who was donating said pets.

"You have an odd sense of aesthetics if you think he is cute. Rhem replied dryly as he picked himself up off the ground in order to face the girl fully. "But I think I'll take you up on that food offer though." It was then the young Padawan would hear it, the soft clinking of metal coming from the boy's waist. If she looked down she would see it clearly. It was nothing else but a lightsaber hanging on his belt.

"I left all my credits back at the base. So I'm kinda stranded here until my pick up arrives." His hand found itself to the back of his head where he began to awkwardly scratch himself. Slightly embarrassed at his situation. "So yeah. If you are offering, I'll try and pay you back sometime."

 

[Shani Ka]

Shani's eyes were alerted to the man's lightsaber. Although that gave her a small hint of nervousness, her being without her own. However, she chose not to react on the outside, to avoid drawing attention, nor did she try to get ready with the force. The man would likely sense it, if he was already trained in the force, which she was also trying to avoid. For all she knew, he could still turn hostile, although it seemed unlikely. Shani smiled still at the man as he stood up, and giggled as the Gizka appreciated her petting. She doubted it would have gotten much of that from his master. She shook her head at the suggestion of him paying back. As if that was going to be likely, she thought to herself.

"No need to pay me back. My name is Shani, by the way. And you are?" She asks, extending her arm for a handshake. She keeps her tone friendly, and gives no hint as to having seen the lightsaber.